Megan shrugged. “That’s how it feels sometimes. You get so involved in your work that you forget we exist. You go away from me, from us, and I don’t know how to reach you.”
Delta knew exactly what Megan meant. Sometimes, the job preyed so heavily on her mind, Delta could think of nothing else. “I want us to last, Meg. I want us to be the couple that younger lesbians look at and ask us how we do it. I want forever. You know that, don’t you?”
Megan’s eyes softened with the tone of her voice. “Yes, I do. But honey, you also want to save the world from itself. I guess . . . I just thought that we would be enough for you, and now, I’m not sure.” Megan let go of Delta and walked over to the window and opened it. Sounds from the city flooded in and she had to close it again. “And, frankly, that scares the shit out of me.”
The pain in Megan’s voice ran hotly through Delta’s heart. She’d had this conversation with every lover she’d been with since she became a cop, and the problems were always the same: she spent too much time doing what she loved and not enough time with the ones she loved. She had hoped she would be different with Megan. She had hoped, by some miracle, that she had changed enough to put her relationship first. Clearly, she had not.
“I don’t know how to change, Meg. I honestly don’t know what to do to make things any better. I thought I was giving our relationship everything I had, and BOOM, you tell me I’m not. I honestly don’t know how to give a relationship my best energy.”
Megan smiled sadly. “I know. And if I weren’t so crazy about you, I would have walked out the door a long time ago. I need you to be here, to be present with me in our relationship. You can’t put a relationship on autopilot when your job demands it and come back expecting us not to have crashed.”
“Have we crashed?” Delta asked, the words jumping off her lips.
Megan shook her head. “Not yet. But if you keep devoting more time and energy to your career, we may. I can’t hold our relationship together by myself.”
Fear grabbed Delta by the throat. “I don’t want to lose you, Meg.”
“Then don’t. That choice is up to you. I know how much your job means to you, but damn it, Delta, sometimes you just have to stop being a cop. Sometimes, you need to just be Delta Stevens, Megan’s lover. I’d even take just plain old Delta Stevens.”
Curling up in Megan’s arms, Delta felt very small. “Maybe that’s what I’m afraid of. Maybe I don’t know who that is anymore.”
Megan kissed the top of Delta’s head and hugged her tightly. “Well, my love, I think it’s time you found out. Put the badge away when you come home and give your mind a rest. Focus on us, on our love, and see where that takes you. Let our relationship be number one for awhile.”
Burying her face in Megan’s hair, Delta sighed. It seemed such an easy request. Why had it been so hard in the past to put love first and the job second? And why hadn’t she learned from her past mistakes?
“I’ll try harder to do that, Meg. Trust that I will.”
Megan pulled away and stroked Delta’s cheek with the back of her hand. “Oh, Delta Stevens, trust you to what? Trust that you’ll jump in front of a speeding bullet to save some street person? Trust that you’ll push the speed limit when responding to a domestic quarrel? Trust that you’ll come home and forget about the abused child you held, or the dying man’s last words? That’s a tall order from someone who cares about your job as much as you do.”
Delta nodded. Yes, it was. Megan knew her well enough to know that Delta might stop thinking about her job, but she never truly would stop living it. She cared about what happened to the people on her beat. Sometimes, that caring took over her whole life.
But her life was different now. Now, Megan loved her in spite of her flaws and weaknesses, and Delta wasn’t willing to give that up.
“I don’t deny that it is a tall order, but damn it, Megan, why can’t I have both? Why can’t I be a good cop and have the love of my life, too?”
“You can, it’s just going to take a little work. All I’m saying, sweetheart, is that relationships take a lot of work, and both people must be willing to work hard at keeping it together.”
“I’m used to hard work,” Delta replied. The fear receded for the time being, leaving her feeling a little stronger.
“Well, this might prove to be even harder than police work, Delta Stevens, because relationships don’t come with manuals, proper procedures, or guarantees. It’s going to take more patience and understanding than either of us has ever given before. I mean, let’s face it, we’re coming at this from two completely different angles. If we stop communicating, we’re finished. Through. Kaput.”
“All right, I get the picture. Just tell me that we’re still on firm ground.” Megan kissed Delta. “Still firm, my love. It isn’t time for a major panic, but we do need to get back on parallel paths.”
“We can do that,” Delta said, kissing Megan lightly on the cheek. Megan’s rational approach to life was another facet that so attracted Delta to her in the first place. “I love you so much, Megan Osbourne.”
“And I,” Megan replied, kissing Delta tenderly, “am crazy about you.”
“Then, we’re okay?”
Megan grinned. “Count on it.”
A low, threatening growl filled the still night air like an ominous warning. Chained to the two-by-four securely bolted next to a rack of gloves was 120 pounds of broad-chested, mean-looking Doberman, baring teeth in a vicious snarl. Ever so slowly, the massive beast rose to its feet, while emitting menacing warnings. Its beady eyes locked onto the intruder’s as it bared even more fangs and lowered its pointed head.
Before the dog could leap, a large piece of meat flew out of the darkness and landed with a splat at the feet of the animal, who sniffed at it before devouring it in two large bites. As it licked its chops, the dog began wavering back and forth like a drunk on the street. In less than a minute, it salivated profusely, then wobbled over into the corner and slumped down on its side. As the dog labored to breathe, it whined a moment and then suffered a body-shaking convulsion. It shuddered once more before gasping its last breath as it laid its head down and died.
Thirty seconds later, the intruder stepped over the dog’s bulk and peered closely at the vast assortment of guns and knives enclosed in a “burglar proof” case. The case was wired to an alarm by a thin, translucent wire running the length of the glass.
Turning from the case, the dark-clad intruder crept through the shop until he came to an imposing set of armor, standing watch in the corner opposite the dead Doberman. As a beam of moonlight bounced off the knight, the intruder stood, mesmerized by the ancient beauty and strength of a long-forgotten warrior.
Shifting ever so slightly, as if afraid to awaken the sleeping Titan, the thief’s hand moved to touch the long, double-bladed ax held in the left glove of the knight. Running his fingers up the handle to the blade, like a man running his fingers along his mistress’s leg, the thief smiled at the sharpness of a blade few knights ever truly mastered.
In an instant, without making a sound, the intruder lifted the ax from the gauntlet and held the ax in both hands. For a moment, the intruder stared at it, as if doing so might magically transform him to a time when men were chivalrous and women were nothing. Ah, those must have been the days.
Rubbing the blade lightly with his fingertips, amazed by the biting sharpness of an ancient relic of man’s bloodier history, he quickly withdrew a cut finger from the blade and gently stuck his finger in his mouth to suck the blood. He smiled at the knowledge that the blade could still hurt—even maim.
Hoisting the ax over his shoulder, the thief stepped over the dog once more and headed for the window. In the far distance of the dark night, sirens blasted through the air, warning of their approach.
Turning to the dog, the thief nodded. “Sorry old boy. Must have it.”
Hearing the sirens round the corner, the intruder looked at his prize and smiled before scrambling out the window. The game was afoot, and they didn’t even know it yet.
Jumping in the driver’s side of the patrol car, Delta held out the report she’d been reading.
“What is it?” Jan asked.
“It’s the detective’s report about the pharmacist’s murder a few days ago.”
“Yuck. Why would you want to read that thing?” Jan screwed up her face and pushed the report away from her. “I’ve got this good book I’ve been rea—”
“Funny.” Opening the report, Delta ran her finger down the page until she came to the note she was looking for. “It’s a bizarre case.”
“Most murder cases are.”
Delta shook her head. “This one feels different. There are some strange things that just don’t add up.”
“Like the fact that we’re not sure the perp took anything?”
Delta nodded. “Not that we know of. I believe the killer came after something specific and I think he got it.” Delta looked down at the report, which had various areas highlighted in yellow.
“What makes you so sure?”
Flicking on her spotlamp as they cruised in a neighborhood where the streetlights had all been broken, Delta inhaled slowly. “You noticed how perfectly neat every drug cabinet was? He didn’t even rummage around looking for drugs, nor did he just swipe whatever drugs could be found for a quick street sale. I think he knew what he wanted before he got there.”
“What about the pharmacy inventory?”
Delta shook her head. “It isn’t finished yet. But I’d bet my truck that there’s a certain drug missing from those cabinets.”
“So, are you leaning toward a failed burglary?”
Delta studied the report before answering."This wasn’t a random killing. I don’t believe that a burg got caught and had to kill Friedman.”
“So maybe the motive was murder.”
“Don’t you think the perp would have at least tried to make it look like a robbery? And if the motive was murder, why in the drugstore? The murderer could have waited outside, instead of risking the confines of the store. Remember how dark the parking lot was?”
Jan nodded.
“The killer could have waited, killed Friedman in the darkness of the parking lot, and been long gone before anyone ever knew. Instead, the murderer chose to kill him in the light of the drugstore. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Most murders don’t, Del.”
Delta acted like she didn’t hear her. “And why did he leave the dagger? A relic like that is a pretty big clue. This guy didn’t stab Friedman with a butcher knife. He killed him with an antique; and a valuable one at that.”
Jan turned and stared at Delta. “What’s with you?”
Closing the report, Delta shrugged and looked out the window. Catching crooks was something she was extremely good at, and she prided herself on the length and breadth of her arrest record. As a young girl, she dreamt of arresting bad guys and being a hero. The first time her grandfather bought her a shiny toy badge from Safeway, Delta was hooked. She wanted a real one when she grew up, and as soon as she finished college, she went straight into the Police Academy.
She had never regretted it.
“It’s the mystery of it all, Jan. don’t you want to know why Ben Friedman was killed?”
“Sure, but let the detectives earn their keep. It’s our job to try to prevent crimes. When we can’t, it’s the dicks’turn. Give it a rest.”
Delta did not turn her eyes from the road. “Resting” wasn’t something Delta Stevens did very well. Ever since she took this beat, she felt a duty, an obligation, to the people on it. If there was some kind of crazed maniac going around murdering people, it was up to her to help stop him. She couldn’t simply hand over the case to the detectives and then go about her merry way. She had to do something. It was what made her Delta Stevens.
“Del? What’s going on in that head of yours?”
“Nothing. It’s just that Homicide has their hands full with those two murders earlier this month. It won’t hurt if I just think about the evidence, right?”
Jan laughed. “Right. And I should apply to be the Queen of England.”
Delta turned toward her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you never mind your own business. Everyone’s business on our beat is your business, Del. The only real question is whose business are you minding this case for?”
Delta turned away, her fierce loyalty to the District Attorney who put Miles’s murderers away was worn on her sleeve like expensive cufflinks.
“Ah, now we get to the bare bones of the matter. I know who you’re covering for now. I can’t believe it took me this long to figure out.”
Delta looked away from Jan. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But Delta knew they both knew what, and who, they were talking about.
“The media is having her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the unsolved murders in this city, and District Attorney Pendleton is desperately in need of a suspect.”
Delta shrugged. “So?”
“So, it’s re-election time, and wouldn’t it be nice if you could hand a suspect over to her? How close am I?”
“Pretty close.” Delta said it so quietly, Jan barely heard her.
“Excuse me? Did I hear you say `pretty close?’ How about giving full credit where it’s due? I’m on the mark, aren’t I?”